Happy Otter-versary

March 12, today, is Mr. Neruda and I's 5 year anniversary.

When we got married I thought it would take forever to get to this point and that it would be weird, a milestone. Or, we wouldn't even make . . . dun, dun, dummmmmmm. But now that we are here, I can't believe we really are. It seems correct when I count up life events: graduate college, Peace Corp, teach school, Ag Department, graduate school, librarian. But it has also gone by so fast.

This year, I have declared our 5 year anniversary to be the Year of the Otter. Otters hold hands in the ocean so they will not float apart. Otters are smart, mischievous, and sweet. They enjoy one another and have mad-protective instincts. They work together well (there is a story of a group of otters taking on a crocodile, driving it away through shear peskiness).

I think all of those things describe how Mr. Neruda and I try to be with one another in our marriage. We intertwine our little otter paws and keep one another from floating away.

I love my otter and am so thankful that we are continuing to float along through crazy waters paw-in-paw.